1. What is Super DLTtape technology?
Super DLTtape technology is the next generation DLTtape technology platform. It is an extension to the highly successful DLTtape technology product set that is the industry standard for mid-range UNIX and NT system backup and archive applications. DLTtape technology provides the most comprehensive data protection storage devices in the midrange system market: from entry level departmental servers to complex enterprise class automated tape library systems.

2. What is the roadmap for Super DLTtape technology?
Super DLTtape technology is a highly scalable platform designed for multiple product generations. Super DLTtape technology will provide an order of magnitude increase over current DLTtape product capacity and transfer rate. Storage capacity per cartridge is expected to start at approximately 100GB and evolve to over 1TB. Transfer rate is expected to start at approximately 10MB per second and evolve to over 100MB per second. (All figures are native, uncompressed.)

3. What is the basis for Super DLTtape technology?
Super DLTtape technology is based on Laser Guided Magnetic Recording (LGMR ™ ) technology. LGMR incorporates a fundamentally different and advanced technology for tape recording. It provides a unique combination of the best of optical and magnetic technologies resulting in dramatically higher capacities by substantially increasing the number of recording tracks on the data-bearing surface of the media. By recording data magnetically on the front side of the tape and tracking optically on the back side, LGMR takes advantage of proven technologies in order to provide the most efficient, reliable and scalable data backup solution to the midrange market.

4. What unique technologies are incorporated in Super DLTtape?
In addition to LGMR, Super DLTtape technology incorporates five unique and highly enabling technologies. All these technologies will be incorporated into the first generation of Super DLTtape technology in order to provide a highly stable, seamless and robust platform.

• Pivoting Optical Servo (POS) — An optically assisted servo system designed for high duty cycle applications, POS eliminates the need for tape to be preformatted, which decreases cost and increases user convenience. By implementing an optical servo on the unused backside of the media, Super DLTtape technology can utilize 100% of the front side for data recording. This contrasts with traditional magnetic servo tape products (QIC, Magstar, Magstar MP, LTO), in which a portion of the front side of the media must be reserved for servo activity, thus limiting the available space for data recording.
• Magneto Resistive Cluster Heads (MRC) — A cluster of small, cost effective MR heads densely packed together using advanced thin film processing technology that can deliver higher data transfer rates and capacity than traditional MR heads of equal size.
• New High Efficiency PRML Channel — Improving on PRML technology traditionally used in disk drives, advanced Partial Response Maximum Likelihood (PRML) channel technology was co-developed with Lucent Technology to bring new levels of performance and capacity to high performance linear tape drives. This provides high encoding efficiency and recording densities for greater capacity and performance and enables Super DLTtape technology to substantially increase transfer rates and capacity.
• Advanced Metal Powder (AMP) Media — A state-of-the-art media using durable metal powder technology for storing very high densities of data. AMP will include the optical guiding targets on the backside.
• Positive Engagement — A highly robust tape leader-buckling mechanism for high duty cycle automated environments.

5. What is involved in the new Pivoting Optical Servo (POS) technology, and what is its benefit?
POS combines high density magnetic read/write data recording with laser servo guiding to provide an order of magnitude track count increase over current DLTtape products. The benefits include:

• No media pre-formatting required
• No extra read/write head elements required
• 100% of the tape is now available for data recording
• Indelible non-magnetic servo tracks

6. How does Super DLTtape technology stack up against current and planned tape technologies, such as LTO’s Ultrium, Exabyte’s Mammoth 2 and Sony’s AIT-2?
None of these other product sets can match the Super DLTtape technology base and seamless scalable growth. In addition, none are able to match DLTtape technology’s integrated market coverage — from entry level servers to 7 x 24 enterprise automation solutions. DLTtape technology provides:

• An industry standard format providing compatibility between multi-generation and multi-platform products
• Seamless upgrade path for installed base of DLTtape systems
• Investment protection for customers with over 1.4 million installed drives and 40 million data cartridges

7. Will Super DLTtape technology be fully backward compatible with current DLTtape products?
Super DLTtape technology will offer backward-read compatibility with DLTtape IV cartridge systems. Consistent with one of the most compelling attributes of DLTtape technology, this ensures compatibility with multiple generations of DLTtape drives and millions of data cartridges. In addition, the new DLT 8000 drive is also compatible with Super DLTtape-based drives offering a viable migration path for increasing data storage needs.

8. Will there be any new optimization of this drive for use in libraries, autoloaders or RAIT systems?
The design of Super DLTtape technology is optimized for existing and next generation storage subsystem solutions. Super DLTtape technology’s standard 5.25 inch form factor and simplified media soft load mechanics have been fully integrated into these solution designs.

9. Will Super DLTtape technology continue the legacy of success established by DLTtape technology?
DLTtape technology has clearly become the most successful tape drive platform ever by serving mid-range backup and archive needs for over 12 years. The DLTtape technology platform has produced an astounding eight product generations during this time! Technological advancements within this platform have increased capacity by a factor of 154x and performance has advanced by a factor of 40x, all while maintaining complete read/write compatibility with preceding generations. Super DLTtape technology will continue to provide customers with a seamless and scalable solution through its backward read compatibility with DLTtape IV cartridge systems, thus ensuring their investment. The DLTtape technology platform will continue to protect critical data and exceed expectations in all future generations.

10. Is DLTtape technology a standard format?
DLTtape is the unquestioned industry standard format for mid-range computing backup and archive applications. This justly deserved position is due to the fact that DLTtape technology has been the only format capable of matching Moore’s law — “meeting the doubling of capacity needs every 18 months.” In addition to consistent and sustained capacity and performance increases, the other compelling attribute of DLTtape technology is its ability to maintain total media and data compatibility between all generations of drives. This not only means that data written on previous generations of DLTtape drives can be accessed by current ones, but that data written to a tape on a specific drive can then be accessed by any other DLTtape drive. By providing an industry standard common format in which data availability and transferability are virtually unlimited, DLTtape technology is simply unmatched by any other tape format or technology.

11. Is DLTtape technology widely available?
DLTtape technology is the most widely available tape technology on the market. It is available in solutions ranging from single drive tabletop configurations to enterprise class automated tape libraries containing tens of drives and thousands of data cartridges. DLTtape solutions have been developed and are available from providers including these major computer and storage suppliers (Compaq, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Quantum, and Sun), all primary tape automation developers (StorageTek, ATL, Hewlett-Packard, ADIC, Overland Data, Breece Hill Technologies, Exabyte Corporation and Qualstar Corporation), as well as a multitude of VARs, resellers and distributors. DLTtape products are also manufactured and sold under license by Tandberg Data Inc.